The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it hopes that Taiwanese celebrities who reposted Chinese state media articles celebrating the National Day of the People’s Republic of China would consider public perceptions in Taiwan.
Yesterday, China’s National Day, several Taiwanese celebrities reposted articles from Chinese state media on their personal Sina Weibo profiles about the holiday, including Golden Horse Award-winning actor Wu Kang-ren (吳慷仁), Cyndi Wang (王心凌), Ouyang Didi (歐陽娣娣), Wang Leehom (王力宏) and others.
Artist Jam Hsiao (蕭敬騰) on Monday night performed in a National Day program on China Central Television, with the state media channel calling him an artist from “Taiwan, China.”
Photo: Tapei Times file and screen grab from Sina Weibo
Wu, who on Monday announced he had signed to a new Chinese management company, yesterday reposted a message from the state-run People’s Daily on his Sina Weibo account, adding: “Congratulations to Beautiful China.”
The MAC said in a statement that although entertainers and celebrities might feel pressure from the Chinese Communist Party to make political statements around holidays, it hoped that they would consider public sentiment in Taiwan and appreciate the nation’s hard-won democratic freedoms.
Separately, the council yesterday again asked Taiwanese to be cautious when traveling to China, Hong Kong or Macau, after two people were sentenced to prison under Hong Kong’s National Security Law.
Hong Konger Chiu Kai-pong (諸啟邦), 27, was sentenced to 14 months on Sept. 16 for “performing acts with seditious intent” for wearing a T-shirt with the words “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times” and a yellow mask with the letters “FDNOL,” short for “five demands, not one less” on June 12, the anniversary of clashes between police and protesters during 2019’s democracy protests.
Chung Man-kit (鍾文傑), 29, was sentenced to 10 months for writing “seditious” graffiti on bus seats.
The MAC said it wished to remind Taiwanese that as of June, a travel advisory for China, Hong Kong and Macau was elevated to “orange,” its second-highest alert.
The council’s Web site has up-to-date information on what might be considered a crime that could lead to prosecution in China, as well as other travel advisories, it said.
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